Chapter 1182: To The Keminomi Palace

I was honestly expecting a carriage or something to show up on the day of the ceremony.

But well... I was definitely not prepared to see a palanquin show up in front of the inn complete with a guard escort.

I blinked at the Inugami attendant who was there to receive me and I pointed at the thing, "You... Are going to carry me to the palace in that?"

"Yes, my lady. Might there be a problem?"

"Well... I guess I should just say that... I’m not that light? So are you sure about this I can walk there myself you know? I don’t really need that."

The attendant seemed troubled, "Ah... Umm... It would trouble us if you don’t use it, my lady. This is part of the ceremony. And I assure you that we will be able to carry you there."

Really?

I honestly thought that since Masuyama was in charge, he’d also try and modernise the transport system or something but apparently not? Unless this has some kind of cultural or historical significance about it then I would understand why they’re using this...

Because it’s not like there aren’t any roads to begin with so it wouldn’t be a problem for carriages to be used here so that’s the only reason I can think of that they would resort to using this.

I guess I don’t have a choice then...

I waved to the other girls who were there to see me off at the inn’s entrance before I let the attendant guide me to the palanquin that the other carriers were waiting at.

When he pulled back the curtain, I realised that the interior was basically just a mattress with tons of pillows and it looked suuuuuper comfy.

And when I climbed inside, I realised that it didn’t just look comfy, it actually felt comfy too!

Well... I’m sure that once they start carrying the palanquin, I would probably be bouncing up and down which would make this uncomfortable anyway.

The curtain was closed and someone gave the order to move off.

I braced myself for the inevitable lift that would come from the palanquin carriers lifting the palanquin up and... Hmmm? Nothing happened?

Wait... Don’t tell me this is all a prank and they just left me inside the palanquin just to see how long it would take before I realised they had gone off without me?

I subtly reached forward and tried to peek outside to see what was going on. If I saw the inn’s entrance, I would immediately know that we hadn’t moved.

But when I only pushed open a crack, I realised that we were already moving and I could even see the scenery going past the palanquin.

Heck, I thought I was just being pushed along at first until I noticed the shadows on the ground showing that the palanquin I was riding was indeed off the ground and being carried between two people.

But yet, I felt no shaking or even any movement at all while I’m laying on top of this soft mattress.

Wait... I forgot... There’s magic... So it should just be a simple thing for them to make some kind of enchantment that would basically negate all the shaking the occupant might feel while being carried in this.

Seeing that these guys also don’t look like they were even struggling to lift this, I believe there should also be an enchantment to reduce the weight of the palanquin.

I guess that’s why they’re still using this because it’s actually more comfortable being carried in this than it was riding a carriage.

There’s so many pillows and it’s actually pretty comfortable laying down on them and it feels like I could just fall asleep here too.

It’s really, really comfy~

Ah... No good... I’m feeling too comfy... I think I might just fall aslee--

"My Lady, we have arrived."

Eh?! That fast?! I was just enjoying the ride! Can’t you go walk a few rounds first and let me enjoy this a bit more?!

Wait, what am I even saying? Not good... I can see why they still kept this mode of transport despite it being so archaic.... I kind of want one of these for myself now...

I pulled the curtain aside and I found myself in front of a rather large mansion, which was odd because I was expecting to be led to the palace and this was definitely not the palace...

"Where are we?" I asked.

"The palace, my Lady," The attendant answered.

Wait... This is the palace?

Deciding to trust the attendant for now, I stepped out and I immediately realised that we were indeed at the palace.

The building that I thought was a mansion was actually the inner gate house right in front of the palace and the path leading up to the palace was lined with guards wearing impressive looking armour.

Since they dropped me off here, I’m guessing they expect me to walk the rest of the way on foot?

As though reading my mind, the attendant gestured towards the gate, "This way, my Lady."

Guess they really expect me to walk.

I followed after the Inugami as he led the way towards the main gates of the palace under the watchful eyes of the guards that lined the path.

I’m guessing the reason they don’t allow people to just ride the palanquin to the front gates of the palace was either for security reasons or to make the visitors feel awed by this show of force.

I do have to say the palace was indeed quite impressive looking though, especially since the last time I saw it, it was from a distance away and I could barely see the building itself.

Reaching the gate, I found Masuyama standing there waiting for me, the Inugami prime minister smiling when he saw me approach.

"Aster! My friend! It’s so good that you could come!" He greeted me, his current attitude a far cry from how he usually acted in front of me.

Obviously I knew he was just putting on a show for the people around us to see since it would be weird for their prime minister to treat me as though I’m in a higher position than he was.

Looking closely, even though the guards look like they were just staring straight ahead and ignoring us, I could see their ears and tails twitch in interest as they listened in on our conversation.

I played along and stepped forward to give him a curtsy, "Thank you for having me, Prime Minister. It is an honour for me to be allowed to be here."

"Ahahaha! There’s no need to be so formal with me, Aster! After all, we’ve already worked together for quite a while, haven’t we?"

Wait, really? You’re going that route where we’re ’supposed’ to be old buddies or something? Isn’t that a little too obvious?

Whatever, I’m adaptable.

"It is only thanks to your help that I even got this opportunity, Prime Minister."

"But it is also thanks to you that so many of my plans managed to be carried out without any problems! I’m glad that you are finally getting recognition for all the hard work that you have done all this while!"

I really think you’re pushing it a little too much Masuyama... I have a feeling he’s desperately trying to hype me up as a way to compensate for his current attitude towards me...

Seriously my guy, just do your best not to blow your own cover...

Thankfully, he turned towards the door and gestured towards it, "Shall we?"

"After you, Prime Minister."

He led the way through the main entrance of the palace as the guards beside it pushed the doors open to allow us through before shutting the door behind us.

Masuyama immediately turned to me and did a perfect dogeza, his head pressed firmly against the ground.

"Lady Aster!! Please forgive my earlier rudeness!! If I didn’t do that, everyone would be suspicious!!"

I scratched my cheek, "Ah... I already know that, you don’t need to apologise for that."

"No! For someone like me to even speak so rudely to you is unthinkable!! But I swear I am not doing this on purpose!! Please believe me!"

"Masuyama... I already said I understand... Please calm down... Just make sure that you don’t accidentally expose yourself, ok?" I pointed out in a whisper.

"Thank you for your benevolence, Lady Aster!! I swear I will work even harder for your sake!!"

Dude, seriously, you’re making a big racket... Thankfully there’s no one else around us so I don’t think anyone heard what he said...

I finally managed to get him to calm down and he just got back up to his feet when two guards suddenly stepped out from the corner, both of them heading straight towards us.

The place that they had stepped out from was definitely close enough that they overheard what the Prime Minister said.

Oh shit...